Raymond Foerster

Raymond Foerster

Occupation

Major (Narcotics Unit)

Colonel (Criminal Investigation Division)

Death

2006

Portrayed by

Richard DeAngelis

Raymond Foerster was the colonel of the Criminal Investigation Division. He formerly served as the major and commander of the Narcotics Unit. He served thirty-nine years in the Baltimore Police Department.[1]

Contents

When Judge Phelan questioned Deputy Commissioner Burrell about the Barksdale operation, it was Majors Foerster and Rawls who faced his subsequent wrath and demands for more information. Foerster's response was to ask his shift lieutenant Cedric Daniels for a report and he then assigned Daniels and his team to the Barksdale detail.

When Daniels' investigation became drawn out and relied upon wiretaps and surveillance, Foerster took the side of Deputy Commissioner Burrell against Daniels when he tried to explain the necessity of this technique to reach the heads of the organization. Foerster's and Burrell's insistence on using buy busts led to the operation that resulted with the shooting of Detective Greggs. Foerster visited Greggs in the hospital with many other command officers and appeared anxious when trying to find a tape recorder to replay the last transmissions before she was shot.

Foerster was promoted to colonel and took over as commander of the Criminal Investigations Division when Rawls was promoted to deputy commissioner of operations. He was replaced as the Narcotics Major by George Smith, an associate of Major Colvin. He attended Rawls' weekly comstat meetings and worked with Sergeant Jay Landsman in running the homicide division. He was put under intense pressure to keep the murder rate down.[2]

In season four, Foerster continued to command CID. He was involved with the management of the murder of a state's witness that became a politically important case. Burrell ordered Foerster to replace veteran investigator Ed Norris with Kima Greggs, now a rookie homicide detective. Foerster realizes Burrell hopes to slow the investigation. He asssumes Burrell's intent was to prevent the investigation from revealing the victim's witness status as a possible motive for the murder before the upcoming mayoral election. Foerster argues with Burrell and Rawls about the decision and discussed it with Jay Landsman. Foerster suffered from cancer during this time and was often absent from work. Repeated courses of chemotherapy failed to cure the disease. Landsman announced the Colonel's death to the homicide unit stating that he served 39 years in the department without leaving a trace of bitterness or hatred with any officers, a miraculous career by BPD standards. A police wake was held at an Irish bar in his honor. He was replaced as C.I.D. colonel by Cedric Daniels at a promotion ceremony following his death.